Karen Parker's guilty plea: An editorial

It was only last month that a grand jury indicted former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard, his former wife Karen Parker and former Parish Attorney Tom Wilkinson on corruption charges. Prosecutors alleged the trio had schemed to manipulate the parish payroll and boost Ms. Parker's salary, by having Mr. Wilkinson hire her as a paralegal supervisor even though she lacked qualifications and didn't perform the job's duties.

CHRIS GRANGER / THE TIMES-PICAYUNE
Karen Parker, right center, the ex-wife of former Jefferson Parish President Aaron Broussard walks out of the federal courthouse in downtown New Orleans Dec. 16.

On Tuesday Ms. Parker admitted to one count of misprision of a felony, or knowing about a crime but failing to report it, as part of a plea agreement with prosecutors. Under the deal, which likely means Ms. Parker would testify against her co-defendants, she admitted that she knew all along that her employment arrangement was illegal.

That's what many parish residents had suspected since legislative auditors exposed Ms. Parker's sweetheart deal in 2010. That report said Ms. Parker, who married Mr. Broussard in 2004, was being paid almost $65,000 as a paralegal supervisor even though her real job was to process employee identification cards, a post that paid $22,000 less. Prosecutors said Tuesday that she wasn't even fulfilling the duties of that lower-rank post and that sometimes Ms. Parker would not even show up for work.

She clearly fleeced taxpayers and deserves to pay for her crimes.

But Tuesday's guilty plea also revealed new wrinkles in the government's case against Mr. Broussard. In documents filed in court, prosecutors alleged that between 2004 and 2010 Mr. Broussard used the parish presidency to secure hundreds of thousands of dollars in "consulting fees" or "finder's fees" from contractors doing business with his administration.

The government also said Mr. Broussard was the majority owner of a holding company for a Canadian property that was partially funded by parish contractors. The government also said Mr. Broussard repeatedly lied in tax returns, mortgage applications and other official documents by representing Ms. Parker as a paralegal.

Mr. Broussard and Mr. Wilkinson have said they're innocent. But the allegations in the government's initial indictment and in the factual basis filed in Ms. Parker's case are serious. Prosecutors need to pursue this case and anyone involved, including contractors who may have violated the law.